Bouncer's Death Unresolved as 3 Are Freed

By SHAILA K. DEWAN

Published: April 16, 2003

The three siblings arrested in connection with the death on Sunday of Dana Blake, a bouncer at a Lower East Side nightclub, were not carrying weapons and had nothing to do with the killing, their lawyer said yesterday.

Jonathan and Ching Chan and their sister, Ngan Ling Chan, were released after more than 24 hours in custody because the Manhattan district attorney declined to prosecute them. The case has attracted international attention because Mr. Blake's family and friends have blamed New York City's new smoking ban for his death.

The police have said that Mr. Blake was killed during a scuffle that began when he tried to enforce the ban, which went into effect two weeks earlier.

But the lawyer for the Chans, Ivan Fisher, said his clients had no idea how the death occurred. ''This is a stockbroker; this is a medical student,'' he said of the two brothers. ''These are people who do not walk around with weapons. They had nothing to do with this,'' he said.

Mary Przybylski, a manager at the club, Guernica, on Avenue B, said that the staff was disappointed at the lack of evidence.

''We're just kind of right now appealing to the press and the public, if anyone knows anything or saw anything, like anyone leaving with a good amount of blood on them, that they tell the police so that we can press charges on someone,'' she said.

She did not say that she believed the Chans were guilty, and said she was acquainted with Ms. Chan, 33, known to friends as Alice. Ching Chan, 31, is known as Alan.

Mr. Blake's older brother Tony and his employer, Richard Allen, spent the day yesterday at the district attorney's office. Mr. Blake said he had been very upset on learning of the Chans' release, but felt better after being assured by prosecutors that the investigation was continuing and that charges could still be brought.

The police have not recovered the weapon that severed Mr. Blake's femoral artery, causing him to bleed to death.

The stabbing occurred after Mr. Blake, a bouncer at Guernica, asked Jonathan Chan, 29, to put out his cigarette, then grabbed his neck and tried to evict him, the police have said.

According to Mr. Fisher, that grab was more like a chokehold. He said that the Chans had gone to the club with a group of friends to celebrate a birthday, and had gone downstairs to the dance floor.

Because there was a line for re-entry to the packed club, the lawyer said, Jonathan Chan had indeed tried to satisfy a nicotine craving indoors. He lighted a cigarette and passed it to a friend who wanted a puff. When Mr. Blake tried to evict the friend, Mr. Chan said that it was not necessary and that they would put the cigarette out, Mr. Fisher said.

Mr. Blake, known in the club as Shazam, then grabbed Mr. Chan's neck in a manner that left a large red welt, alarming his siblings and causing them and other bystanders to intervene, the lawyer said. The police have said that the three siblings and a fourth man were involved in the struggle, and that no witnesses said they saw a stabbing occur.

Ms. Przybylski said that although she did not witness the incident, Mr. Fisher's account could not be true. ''I don't know anything that would provoke Shazam to do that,'' she said. ''Grab is not something that he would do. He would usher.''

Mr. Fisher, whose clients did not read news accounts of Mr. Blake's death until late last night, said, ''They were surprised that he was supposed to be a gentle guy and well liked, because that's not how they met him.''

He also complained that news accounts had presented an incomplete picture of his clients. It was reported that Jonathan Chan had divorced his wife after her mother died in the World Trade Center attack. But in reality, Mr. Fisher said, the two have remained friends and the ex-wife offered to put up bail if necessary.

He said that the Chans and their friends and family had chosen not to speak directly to reporters.

But Ms. Przybylski said that after the group was ejected from the club, she saw a man covered in blood approach another bouncer at the front door and threaten him.

She said she had not seen the Chan brothers or been asked if either one was the man she saw.

Mr. Fisher said that his clients left the bar, not fleeing but simply walking, and were ''tackled'' by two bouncers from the club.

On Monday afternoon, the office of the chief medical examiner was still trying to determine whether the wound in Mr. Blake's leg could have been caused by broken glass. But yesterday, those who knew Mr. Blake said that they did not believe the stabbing could have been an accident.

Evaluating the wound was difficult, officials said, because surgery had been performed on the gash to try to save Mr. Blake's life. But Capt. James Klein said that according to the doctor who performed the surgery, the wound was 8 centimeters wide, 4 centimeters long, and 5 to 6 centimeters deep and was consistent with a knife wound. He said the medical examiner's report indicated that there was no glass or other foreign material in the wound.

Mr. Fisher acknowleged that the incident was prompted by the cigarette.

Ms. Przybylski stressed that the smoking law that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had pushed was only two weeks old and that many bars were still figuring out the best way to enforce it. ''I don't want to turn it into a Bloomberg bashing, but it already is,'' she said. ''We're trying to maintain a neutral ground on that right now.''